N.C. prep hoops star commits to Tar Heels

By Durham Herald-Sun

Published: Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 07:12 AM.

DURHAM — North Carolina has locked up another top in-state recruit.

Greensboro native Theo Pinson, a five-star rated junior at Wesleyan Christian Academy in High Point, made a verbal commitment to UNC at a ceremony Wednesday afternoon. He is ranked between 10th and 20th nationally in his class by all four major recruiting services.

Verbal commitments are not binding on the player.

The 6-6, 190-pound small forward picked UNC over Indiana, Duke, Louisville and Georgetown. He said proximity to his hometown, his relationship with UNC coach Roy Williams, the Tar Heels’ up-tempo style and the team’s personnel were the deciding factors.

“Me and Roy had a conversation last week that just pushed me over the top,” Pinson told reporters. “And it was like, ‘This is where I want to be.’”

This past season, Williams inked two of the top three in-state players in ESPN’s Class of 2013 — Oxford Webb forward Isaiah Hicks and West Charlotte center Kennedy Meeks.

Williams didn’t get any in-state commitments from the Class of 2012, but picked up two top 20 players before that in Greensboro native P.J. Hairston (No. 13 in 2011) and Kinston native Reggie Bullock (No. 18 in 2010).

Greensboro native Theo Pinson, a five-star rated junior at Wesleyan Christian Academy in High Point, made a verbal commitment to UNC at a ceremony Wednesday afternoon. He is ranked between 10th and 20th nationally in his class by all four major recruiting services.

Verbal commitments are not binding on the player.

The 6-6, 190-pound small forward picked UNC over Indiana, Duke, Louisville and Georgetown. He said proximity to his hometown, his relationship with UNC coach Roy Williams, the Tar Heels’ up-tempo style and the team’s personnel were the deciding factors.

“Me and Roy had a conversation last week that just pushed me over the top,” Pinson told reporters. “And it was like, ‘This is where I want to be.’”

This past season, Williams inked two of the top three in-state players in ESPN’s Class of 2013 — Oxford Webb forward Isaiah Hicks and West Charlotte center Kennedy Meeks.

Williams didn’t get any in-state commitments from the Class of 2012, but picked up two top 20 players before that in Greensboro native P.J. Hairston (No. 13 in 2011) and Kinston native Reggie Bullock (No. 18 in 2010).

Pinson’s is the third five-star junior to commit to the Tar Heels. Apopka, Fla. point guard Joel Berry committed in January, and Tomball, Texas small forward Justin Jackson committed in March. All three players are ranked in the top 15 in their class by ESPN.

UNC is only school that has locked up more than one of the 16 top 50 players who have verbally committed to date.

With the graduation of senior Leslie McDonald and the potential departure of junior P.J. Hairston to the NBA, sophomore J.P. Tokoto could be the only swing man on the roster when Pinson and Jackson arrive.

Though Indiana was the only school that Pinson officially visited, the junior made almost a dozen unofficial trips to UNC during the past two years. In the end, the easy trip to Chapel Hill helped him pick the Tar Heels over the Hoosiers.

“I have a very good relationship with (Indiana coach Tom Crean),” Pinson said. “But it was, ‘Why not play in front of your peers for four more years?’”